How to say: How much/how many?
In Russian there’s just the one word: Сколько (followed, if you’re interested, by the genitive plural).
To find out how much something costs:
Сколько стоит билет? How much is a ticket?
Сколько стоят помидоры? How much are the tomatoes? (A letter changes in the plural form, but the pronunciation stays the same, so unless you’re writing it down, don’t worry about it).
Сколько с меня? How much do I owe?
Useful if you’re taking a taxi:
Сколько туда ехать? How much to get there?
This could be referring to time or money, so you should specify:
Сколько (туда ехать) по времени? How long will it take to get there?
Сколько (туда ехать) по деньгам? How much will it cost to get there?
With regard to time:
Сколько сейчас времени? What time is it?.
Сколько (времени) вы там были? How long were you there?
Во сколько? What time/When? [As in, What time does your train leave?]
Во сколько начало? What time does it start?
A question you might not want to ask everyone:
Сколько вам лет? How old are you?
A question you beg of yourself when you’re so fed up:
Сколько можно??! How long can I stand this??
And the answers:
Нисколько. Nothing at all
Сколько угодно. However much, doesn’t matter.
Слолько не жалко. (lit) As much as you won’t regret: equivalent to the English “as much as you can afford” but far softer sounding.
Столько. This much (accompanied by appropriate hand gesture)
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